Lord God of Israel? V. 25. For the Lord hath made Jordan a border between us and you, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad; ye have no part in the Lord; so shall your children make our children cease from fearing the Lord. So it was their anxiety for their children and for the latter's possible exclusion from the worship of Jehovah, the true God, which had prompted the two and one half tribes to erect the great altar on the bank of the Jordan. V. 26. Therefore we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, v. 27. but that it may be a witness between us and you and our generations after us, that we might do the service of the Lord before Him, have the right to appear at the Tabernacle and worship Jehovah, with our burnt offerings and with our sacrifices and with our peace-offerings; that your children may not say to our children in time to come, Ye have no part in the Lord. V. 28. Therefore said we that it shall be, when they should so say to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say again, Behold the pattern, copy, likeness, of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between us and you. V. 29. God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat-offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord, our God, that is before His Tabernacle. So this copy of Jehovah's altar was simply to serve as a witness of the fact that the tribes on both sides of Jordan worshiped the same God. V. 30. And when Phinehas, the priest, and the princes of the congregation and heads of the thousands of Israel which were with him heard the words that the children of Reu

ben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spake, it pleased them, the explanation satisfied them in every way. V. 31. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, said unto the children of Reuben and to the children of Gad and to the children of Manasseh, This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, the entire nation, because ye have not committed this trespass against the Lord, the disloyalty of which the western tribes suspected them; now ye have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord, for He would surely have visited the iniquity of the offending tribes upon the whole people if they had been guilty. V. 32. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the priest, and the princes returned from the children of Reuben and from the children of Gad out of the land of Gilead, east of Jordan, unto the Land of Canaan, the Land of Promise in the narrower sense, to the children of Israel, the ten western tribes, and brought them word again. V. 33. And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, thanking Him for adjusting the matter in such a satisfactory way, and did not intend, had no further thought, to go up against them in battle, to destroy, devastate, the land wherein the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt. V. 34. And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar Ed; for it shall be a witness between us that the Lord is God. The entire sentence served as the name of the altar, for it should be regarded as a continual witness, for all times, that the tribes east of Jordan also accepted Jehovah as the one true God. It is wellpleasing to God if Christians are zealous for His honor, but He also expects us to discuss matters which may lead to quarrels in a proper, brotherly manner, lest we harm some one by an unjust suspicion.

Admonition to Be Faithful to the
Covenant.

THE URGENT EXHORTATION TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE LORD. — V. 1. And it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, when the heathen nations had been brought to a state of fear which kept them from undertaking any attack against Israel, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age, advanced in days, with the infirmities of old age in evidence. V. 2. And Joshua called for all Israel, in its representatives, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, the first designation being the general one, and the heads being divided into judges and

officers, both the judicial and the executive branches of the government thus being represented, and said unto them, the meeting tak ing place either at his home, at Timnath-serah, or, more probably, at Shiloh, I am old and stricken in age; v. 3. and ye have seen all that the Lord, your God, hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord, your God, is He that hath fought for you, for it had been evident throughout that the Lord was battling for Israel. V. 4. Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, those that had not yet been exterminated, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the Great Sea westward, toward the

going down of the sun; for tribes of the heathen nations were still living in the Valley of Jordan and in parts of the plain along the coast of the Mediterranean. But these sections had been included in the allotment of land, and so the duty of driving them out was before the people. V. 5. And the Lord, your God, He shall expel them from before you, thrust them out altogether, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land as the Lord, your God, hath promised unto you, Ex. 23, 23; Num. 33, 53. V. 6. Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, for that was the condition of the covenant upon which the Lord insisted, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; v. 7. that ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you, to enter into any fellowship with them; neither make mention of the name of their gods, namely, for the purpose of calling upon them or of proclaiming them, to swear by them, to serve them by offerings, and to bow down to them in prayer, Ex. 23, 13; Deut. 6, 13; 10, 20, as Joshua adds; nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them; v. 8. but cleave unto the Lord, your God, as ye have done unto this day, for the congregation as such had adhered firmly to the worship of Jehovah while Joshua was leader. V. 9. For the Lord hath driven out from before you great nations and strong, Deut. 4, 38; but (or "and") as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day, the assistance of Jehovah making them invincible and giving them the power to conquer everything before them, Deut. 7, 24. V. 10. One man of you shall chase a thousand, as Moses had promised, Lev. 26, 8; Deut. 32, 30; for the Lord, your God, He it is that fighteth for you, as He hath promised you, Ex. 14, 14; 23, 27; Deut. 3, 22. V. 11. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, they were to watch very carefully over their own souls, in keeping them in the Law of the Lord, that ye love the Lord, your God; for this love is the fulfilment of the Law. V. 12. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, be joined to them in friendship and affection, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, thus entering into the most intimate relationship with them and setting aside the loyalty toward Jehovah, and go in unto them and they to you, in a social fellowship and intercourse which the

Lord had forbidden them, Ex. 34, 12-16; Deut. 7,3, v. 13. know for a certainty that the Lord, your God, will no more drive out any of these nations from before you, an achievement which was possible only with His assistance, but they shall be snares and traps unto you, Num. 33, 55; Is. 8, 14. 15, and scourges in your sides, to punish them, and thorns in your eyes, infinitely more painful than motes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord, your God, hath given you. Joshua heaps the figures picturing the affliction and the misery which would follow their act of disloyalty in entering into friendships and other intimate relationships with the heathen nations; for the Lord knew that no warning could be made too impressive in this connection. The blessings of God's goodness should be the strongest inducement to all Christians to cling to Him alone with all their heart and to shun all intimacy with the children of this world.

AN EARNEST WARNING.-V. 14. And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth, for Joshua was on his way to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord, your God, spake concerning you, not a single word, a single promise of the Lord fell to the ground, became void, remained unfulfilled, as they well knew; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. But the very greatness of the Lord's goodness and mercy laid additional obligations upon the whole people. V. 15. Therefore it shall come to pass that, as all good things are come upon you which the Lord, your God, promised you, so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, as He had threatened, Lev. 26, 14-33; Deut. 28, 15-68, until He have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord, your God, hath given you. V. 16. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord, your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, for faithfulness to Jehovah was the essence of the covenant, and bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which He hath given unto you, Deut. 11, 17. abstain from intimacy with the world is a form of protecting our souls. Carelessness in this respect may result in the loss of our inheritance and in bringing God's wrath and curse upon us.

To

Joshua's Farewell Address and Death.

A REVIEW OF GOD'S MERCIES. - V. 1. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, a gigantic assembly of people in the place which was hallowed by so many memories, ever since the time of Abraham, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, chap. 23, 2; and they presented themselves before God, for this last appeal was made in the name of Jehovah. V. 2. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, as whose representative Joshua was here addressing the people, Your fathers, progenitors, dwelt on the other side of the flood, of the great stream Euphrates, in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor, who lived first in Ur of the Chaldees and then in Haran, Gen. 11, 28. 31; and they, Terah with his family, served other gods, namely, teraphim, Gen. 31, 19. V. 3. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, the great river Euphrates, out of these dangerous surroundings, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac, in making true the promise concerning his great progeny. V. 4. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau, Gen. 25, 24; and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir to possess it, Gen. 36, 8; Deut. 2, 5; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt, Gen. 46, 1.6. Thus everything was prepared for the second great proof of God's mercy, the miraculous deliverance of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. V. 5. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them, in the matter of the great plagues, Ex. 7-10; and afterward I brought you out, Ex. 12. V. 6. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt, Ex. 12, 51; and ye came unto the sea, the Red Sea, Ex. 14, 2; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red Sea, Ex. 14, 9. V. 7. And when they cried unto the Lord, He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, Ex. 14, 10. 20, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them, Ex. 14, 27; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt, in punishing both the land and the people; and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season, forty years, chap. 5,6. The entire description is a noble, impressive account. The Lord now recalls the third proof of His favor and merciful kindness. V. 8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, this one name standing for all the heathen nations, but here designating the two branches of this nation dwelling east of Jordan, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you, the armies of Popular Commentary, Old Test., I.

Sihon and of Og, Num. 21, 21. 33; and I gave them into your hand that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. V. 9. Then Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, he made ready for a campaign against Israel, in case he could get Balaam to curse the invaders, and sent and called Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse you, Num. 22, 5, since he lacked the courage to attack Israel outright; v. 10. but I would not hearken unto Balaam, Jehovah frustrated the evil intentions of the soothsayer; therefore he blessed you still, in spite of himself; so I delivered you out of his hand. Thus were the plans of Balak overthrown and everything made ready for the fourth proof of God's favor, the conquest of Canaan proper. V. 11. And ye went over Jordan, by a miraculous passage, chap. 3, 14, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, chap. 6, 1, and not only they, but also the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, chap. 3, 10; and I delivered them into your hand. V. 12. And I sent the hornet before you, in terrifying the nations of the land, Ex. 23, 28; Deut. 7, 20, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, as representatives of the entire heathen host; but not with thy sword nor with thy bow, for it was not Israel's prowess which had subdued the land. V. 13. And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted not do ye eat. Thus Israel, without any merit on its part, through God's goodness and merciful kindness alone, had received a glorious land, a rich and fertile country, in whose cultivation they were not obliged to labor in the sweat of their brow, but which was given to them in the finest condition, ready to enjoy. We Christians are also obliged to confess, with regard to both the temporal and the spiritual blessings of the Lord, that we are not worthy of the least of all His benefits.

THE EXACTION OF THE PROMISE TO BE FAITHFUL. — V. 14. Now, therefore, with all these blessings and merciful kindnesses in mind, fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth, without all pretense and feigned devotion, for all hypocrisy and false piety is an abomination in the sight of the Lord; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, in Mesopotamia, and in Egypt, for heathenish, idolatrous superstition was still found among the people, although not in its gross form, Lev. 17, 7; and serve ye the

26

Lord. V. 15. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, for true service requires the conviction of the heart, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, beyond Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, the Canaanitish nations, in whose land ye dwell, this form of challenge being the very strongest admonition to loyalty. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. This declaration of Joshua, with all its simplicity, contained a mighty appeal, just as all similar confessions do, arousing the sluggish and strengthening the weak to rally around the Lord. V. 16. And the people, evidently deeply affected by Joshua's fervent sincerity, answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, the very idea of such apostasy was far from their minds; v. 17. for the Lord, our God, He it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, as the Lord had reminded them in the address of Joshua, and among all the people through whom we passed; v. 18. and the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land, as they here gratefully acknowledge; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God. They turn from the service of other gods with every indication of extreme loathing, of deep aversion. V. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, in testing the sincerity of their position, Ye cannot serve the Lord, that is, not without His assistance, for He it is who must work both to will and to do; for He is an holy God; He is a jealous God, Ex. 19, 6; 20, 5; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. So they should not promise faithfulness lightly, but in the full consciousness of the import of their words. V. 20. If ye forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, Gen. 35, 4, then He will turn, assume an entirely different attitude toward them, and do you hurt and consume you after that He hath done you good. Jehovah demands unwavering loyalty, steadfast allegiance. V. 21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. They persist in their determination and uphold their resolution. Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves, their declaration would serve as a testimony against them, that ye have chosen you the Lord to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. They fully agreed to all that Joshua had said. V. 23. Now, therefore, put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, even the last remnant of idolatrous superstition, and incline your heart unto the

V. 22. And

Lord God of Israel, who demands all the heart, all the soul, and all the mind in His service. V. 24. And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord, our God, will we serve, and His voice will we obey. It was the third solemn assurance of loyalty and obedience. V. 25. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, in exacting this promise from them, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. It was a second renewal of the covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai, Ex. 19, 20; Deut. 28, 69. It is a great and serious thing to serve the Lord, a matter which no man can perform in his own reason and strength, but only in the strength of the grace of God. JOSHUA'S DEATH AND BURIAL. - V. 26. And Joshua wrote these words, the entire account of the renewal of the covenant, in the Book of the Law of God, as an addition to the law-book of Moses, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the Sanctuary of the Lord, in the space consecrated by the altars of Abraham and Jacob, Gen. 12, 7; 33, 20, and by the solemn service which had been held there shortly after the coming of Israel into the Land of Promise, chap. 7, 30. V. 27. And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness, a monument and memorial, unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which He spake unto us, during the meeting which had gone before; it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God, it would always serve to remind them of their solemn promise, lest they deny Jehovah by thought, word, or deed. V. 28. So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance, to his possession in the section of the country allotted to his tribe. V. 29. And it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, as he is now also called in recognition of his loyalty to Jehovah, died, being an hundred and ten years old, as his progenitor, the patriarch Joseph, before him. V. 30. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah, which is in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash, evidently a well-known hill at that time, Judg. 2, 9; 2 Sam. 23, 30. V. 31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, literally, "whose days extended beyond those of Joshua," and which had known all the works of the Lord that He had done for Israel. The experiences which these men had gone through in their youth and early manhood served to keep them loyal to the covenant God, and their example influenced the people accordingly. V. 32. And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt buried

The Book of Judges covers a period of some three hundred and fifty years, from approximately 1440 to 1090 B. C. It is named from the heroes who were appointed by God as leaders of Israel in the period succeeding Joshua and ending with the rise of Samuel. The exploits of these champions of Israel, whom the Lord endowed with miraculous power in conquering their heathen enemies, form the central and principal part of the book. They are called Judges because they held the highest civil authority in the nation, and they are called Saviors because they repeatedly delivered Israel from its enemies.

The author, after characterizing the political condition and the religious life of Israel during the time of the Judges, gives a brief account of the Judges themselves. The following Judges are named in the book: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, the woman Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson. The deeds of Deborah and Barak, of Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson against the Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites, and Philistines are treated in greater detail than the others.

Of the general character of the period the following may be said. In his farewell address Joshua had earnestly warned the people against idolatry and solemnly exhorted them to remain faithful to Jehovah, the God of their fathers. They gave their solemn promise, which was kept for that one generation. But their children and descendants turned from the

Lord to idolatry and provoked Him to anger. When the Lord thereupon punished them by giving them into the hands of their enemies to spoil them, they repented and walked in the ways of Jehovah until they had been delivered. But the lesson was invariably soon forgotten; the people relapsed into idolatry, and thus sin, punishment, repentance, and deliverance followed in succession through those centuries. The purpose of the book is to offer a history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the days of Samuel in an account of the chief events and thus to demonstrate the working of the divine justice and mercy as a lesson for all future generations.

Regarding the authorship of the Book of Judges, no definite statement can be made. It was not written before the time of Samuel and probably at a time when Israel already had a king. The ancient tradition which names Samuel as the author may well be correct. The Jewish Talmud makes this assertion with great emphasis, and the vivid presentation seems to point to this prophet, for which reason modern critics have rarely called the statement into question. It may be added that the activity of the Judges is mentioned in both the Old and the New Testament, and that they have always been regarded as types of Christ, the eternal Redeemer of His people.1)

1) Cp. Concordia Bible Class, Mar., 1919, 35. 36; Fuerbringer, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 27-29.

Political Conditions of the Period. OVERTHROW OF VARIOUS ENEMIES. — V. 1. Now, after the death of Joshua, which was related in the last chapter of the Book of Joshua, it came to pass, as the author states in taking up the thread of the narrative, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, through the Urim and Thummim of the high priest, Num. 27, 21, saying, Who shall go up

for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them? Joshua had very emphatically enjoined upon them the extermination of the tribes of Canaan which still remained, and therefore the question of the representatives of the entire nation was who it was to be that should initiate the aggressive measures, to which tribe the leadership had been assigned in beginning the final conquest of the land. V. 2.